


Change for the Better

by lechoochoo



Category: Daft Punk
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-07
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2018-01-14 22:34:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1281268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lechoochoo/pseuds/lechoochoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Guy-Manuel has always had a hard time playing by the rules. He's your typical punk kid; he listens to heavy metal, he wears all black, and even does drugs. Every day he gets in trouble at school; the reasons were always different. But now he's gotten in trouble one too many times. After his principal threatens to kick him out, he needs to figure out a way to get his act together, and fast. Suddenly, everything changes when he meets Thomas- another foreign exchange student from France. They hit it off well and soon enough, Guy-Man has developed a crush. Forced into a corner, he has to chose between his party and drug lifestyle or the love of his life.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I sat on the bench outside of the principal’s office; a toothpick hanging out of the corner of my mouth, my arms crossed. It was just another meeting; just like normal. It was probably the fourth one this week, fuck if I knew. I’d lost count of how many times I’d sat in this bench. Every conversation was the same; I need to get my grades up, I need to have a better attitude, blah, blah, blah. It was all bullshit anyways; I didn’t care.

I sighed, leaning back. I took the toothpick out of my mouth and flicked it to the ground, smirking. Suddenly, a small sigh from behind me caught my attention. I looked back; the principal’s cold green eyes met mine. She was standing with her arms folded, tapping her foot. I rolled my eyes, bending down to pick up the toothpick.

“Come on in, Guy-Manuel.” She muttered.

I sat back up and grabbed my backpack that I’d thrown down beside me. I got up and walked over to her, pushing past to get inside the small office. I tossed my bag down next to the chair that I had grown a bit too fond off, and then turned to throw the toothpick away. I went back and plopped myself down in the chair, crossing my legs. I smiled.

“Good morning, Mrs. Tyler.” I said as she sat down behind the desk across from me.

“It’s Mrs. Taylor.” She corrected.

“That’s what I said.” I responded, lowering my eyebrows. She sighed.

“Guy-Manuel, why are you here?” She asked.

I shrugged.

“I don’t know what I did this time.”

“You cursed at your math teacher, Mr. Franklin, Guy-Manuel.”

I rolled my eyes. 

“He had it coming. And please, just call me Guy-Man.”

Mrs. Taylor stood up. She walked over to a file drawer, opening it. I sat in silence as she flipped through several folders; she was obviously looking for something about me. After a minute or two of flipping, she finally pulled out a large folder that had been packed full of papers. She went back to the desk, slamming it down in front of me. The tab on the side had my full name, Guillaume-Emmanuel de Homem-Christo, printed in black sharpie. The folder itself was filled with a stack of papers. I looked back up to Mrs. Taylor.

“Do you know what this is, Guy-Man?” She asked.

I shook my head.

“It’s your permanent record.”

My eyes widened. I looked back down at the folder. There was no telling what the hell was in there. 

“This is far from good, Guy-Man.” Mrs. Taylor continued, heading back to her seat. She sat back down in her seat behind her desk. I looked back up, narrowing my eyebrows. She sighed. 

“Do you know what is in here, Guy-Man?” She asked.

I shrugged. “Too much to keep track of.” I muttered.

“That’s right, Guy-Man.” She said, getting back up. “Your terrible grades, all of the fights you’ve been in, detention slips, drug abuse claims, vandalism claims, theft claims, complaints, the whole nine.”

I rolled my eyes. “I do not to drugs.” I hissed.

She narrowed her eyes.

“Oh really, Guy-Man?” She asked. “You don’t think I’ve heard about your little drug deals from your teachers? You’ve even started smoking in the middle of class.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I don’t do them.” I repeated, my voice shaking.

Mrs. Taylor ignored my pleas, walking right over to my bag. She picked it up, reaching into one of the side pockets. She took out a small bottle, setting it on the desk- my ecstasy pills. I lowered my head.

“Now, what in heaven’s name is this?” She asked.

“M-My ADHD pills.” I lied.

She set my bag down, taking the bottle. She set it down on the desk.

“Guy-Man, your records say you don’t have ADHD. And even if you did, these would need to be held by the front office. You know that. Now, go ahead and tell me what they are. I’ll keep this between you and I.”

I looked up. “T-They’re… Ecstasy pills.” She sighed.

“Guy-Manuel, this has gotten out of hand.” She said. “You used to be the perfect student; a model student. What happened? I understand you are a foreign exchange student; America is a lot different from France.”

I paused a moment. 

I guess I’m just homesick.” I muttered; my head still lowered.

Mrs. Taylor sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that, Guy-Man. But you seriously do need to focus more on schoolwork. I’m sorry to say, but if you mess up one more time, I’m going to have to expel you.”

I looked up in shock. “W-What?!” I exclaimed. “Y-You can’t! Please, I’ll do anything!”

Mrs. Taylor sighed. “You obviously care about your education. Something is just holding you back.”

I nodded. She picked up a small notepad that sat on the side of her desk along with a pen and started scribbling something down. She pulled a piece of paper out of it, handing it to me. I could barely understand the sloppy writing. I looked back up, one eyebrow raised.

“I want you to start talking to the school psychiatrist. Every day during your lunch period for the next week, please go speak with her. It will help a lot- especially with the drug abuse.”

I slouched down in the chair, glaring at the floor. “I don’t do drugs.” I muttered with an angry tone.

“Guy-Manuel, please. I’m begging you. The last thing I want to see you do is go off the deep end, or worse, bring others with you. Please go talk to her.”

I got up, grabbing my bag. “Yeah, whatever.” I said, heading out the door.

“Be mindful of your decisions for the next few days, Mr. Homem-Christo.” Mrs. Taylor added as I let the door slam behind me.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guy-Man meets the new kid, Thomas.

I sat on the living room couch, eating an apple. My younger brother, Paul, sat on the floor in front of the TV, tapping away at his Mario Kart game. My mother wasn’t home yet, and as always, I had to stay in the living room with the little brat. And today was not the best day for babysitting.

My head was pounding from all the bullshit Mrs. Taylor told me. I hadn’t smoked at all today, which had me pretty antsy. At this point of the night, I wanted to go to bed. And it was only 6 pm.

My mother would be home any minute now. And, as always, she’d be pissed. Every day she got a phone call from the school, and every day it was something new. “Oh, Guy-Manuel punched another student in the eye; Guy-Manuel was caught cheating on homework; blah, blah, blah.” It was the same old shit every single day.

My brother interrupted my thoughts when he fell off Rainbow Road again. He threw the controller down; folding his arms and pouting.

“Aye, be careful with that, Paul.” I reminded him.

“Shut up, stupid head!” He yelled back, picking up the controller and continuing. I rolled my eyes.

“You know you need to take a bath soon, right?” I asked.

Paul pouted.“I hate baths!” He yelled, still focused on the screen. “Baths are for prissy little girls! I hate being clean!”

I sighed, getting up. I went over behind Paul and kicked him. He let out a small cry, pausing his game. He looked back, pouting.

“That hurt!” He yelled.

I smirked. “Your voice hurts my ears. Now shut the fuck up and go take a bath, dumbass.”

Paul’s eyes widened. “Ooo!” He exclaimed, hopping up. “I’m telling Mama that you said a bad word!”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. Go get in the bath.”

Paul shook his head. I glared at him and bent down, yanking the controller away from him. I turned the game off. Paul started to whine and run around. I let out a deep breath. Today was just not the day for a chase.

“You’re gonna be in even more trouble if Mama doesn’t see you in the bathtub, Paul.” I said. Paul stopped right where he was, his eyes wide. Without another word, he took off running towards the bathroom.

I smirked, sitting back down on the couch. I picked up the remote and changed from the Wii to cable. I changed the channel to VH1, hoping for a music video. All I needed now was music.

As usual, nothing good was on. I groaned, muting the TV. I lay down on the couch, sprawling my legs out. I put a pillow from the couch over my face, closing my eyes. Some sleep would probably help with my headache. All was quiet and perfect for about 5 minutes, until I heard the door open.

“Guillaume-Emmanuel de Homem-Christo!” An angry voice shouted as they stepped into the room.

My mother.

I pulled the pillow off of my face, sitting up by propping myself on my elbows. My eyes met with my mother’s; sharp and cold. I knew she was pissed.

“I got another phone call from the school today.” She started. “I can’t believe you cursed at a teacher!”

I sat up, rolling my eyes. “He pissed me off.” I muttered.

My mother groaned, walking over to the end of the couch. She sat down, putting her head in her hands.

“What am I going to do with you?” She muttered. I sighed.

“Send me back to France.” I responded.

My mother looked up, tears in her eyes.

“Who will you live with?!” She asked. “Your father is gone, Guy-Man! He doesn’t care about us anymore! That’s the reason we left in the first place, remember?!”

My face grew cold. I glared at her. Even the mention of my father’s name pissed me off.

“Fuck him!” I shouted, getting up. My mother raised her eyebrows. “Fuck him and everyone like him! He’s a piece of shit that doesn’t deserve us!” I pushed past my mother, going to the stairs. I ignored her cries to go back and headed straight for my room, slamming the door behind me.

 

 

It was almost 12 am. I sat on my bed, guitar in my hand, lyric book in front of me. I had been trying to come up with a new song, but nothing was working; crumpled up papers lay on the floor of my room, mainly around the trashcan that was near the door. I was getting pissed off at this point; I wanted to just give up. Songwriting always made me happy, but today it just wasn’t working.

I continued to aimlessly strum my black electric guitar, hoping some inspiration would come up. I had my old acoustic in my closet, which I used a lot more, but I didn’t feel like dragging it out at this time of night. For some reason, the only songs that I could come up with were love songs. I hated love songs, especially break up songs. By this time, the can of monster I had this morning was wearing off. I could feel my eyelids growing heavier and heavier with each passing moment. Maybe I just needed to get some sleep, but I didn’t want to. I could never go to sleep at a time like this. What if I slept on a good song? Fuck, I didn’t know.

After a few minutes of subconsciously strumming my guitar, the world around me seemed to blur. The next thing I knew, I had accidentally kicked my lyric book off my bed. I pushed myself back up against the wall, sliding down until my feet hung off the edge of the bed. I took my guitar off, which at this point felt like it weighed a million pounds, and set it on the bed beside me. Before I could even stop myself, I was out cold.

 

 

I heard my alarm go off. And God damn, it was loud.

I rubbed my eyes, sitting up. I looked over to the desk beside my bed, where my alarm clock was. I lazily got up and went over, pressing snooze. I yawned, scratching my ass. I looked down, noticing the time on my clock.

It was 7:30. I was late.

My eyes widened. A sudden burst of energy had me running to my closet. I dug through a bunch of shirts and grabbed a random one, ignoring what was on it. I grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans and hurried to throw them on, running out the door. I zipped my pants as I ran down the stairs, yelling for Paul to wake up. By this time, my mother was gone.

I ran into the kitchen, opening the fridge. I grabbed a can of Monster and went back out into the living room, throwing the can over onto the couch. Paul was lying on the stairs in his pajamas, groaning.

“Paul get up!” I yelled. “It’s time for school, you twat!”

Paul groaned again. I rolled my eyes and went over, grabbing his arm. I pulled him up the stairs as he groaned, throwing him back in his room. “Get ready, dumbass!” I yelled, slamming the door.

I stood at his door, tapping my foot. After a minute or two, Paul came back out, fully dressed. He looked up at me, laughing.

“What?” I hissed.

“Nice hair.” Paul said, walking towards the stairs.

I raised my eyebrows. I went into the hallway bathroom, turning the light on. I looked into the mirror. Paul was right, my hair was a mess. I didn’t have time to do it like usual. I groaned and got a hairband, pulling my hair back into a ponytail. God I looked like a mess.

I ran back out of the bathroom, cutting the light off. I shuffled down the stairs, pushing past Paul who was standing at the bottom; a chocolate pop tart hanging out of his mouth. I ran over to the coat hanger in the corner of the room, grabbing my leather jacket and throwing it on.

“Come on, let’s go!” I yelled, running over to get my monster that I put on the couch. Paul hurried and ran out the door. I grabbed the house keys that were near sitting on a side table, along with my backpack, and hurried out behind him, slamming the door shut behind me.

 

 

I stood at the bus stop, half asleep. I could barely hold myself up at this point, considering I had to get Paul to his bus stop and then jog back to mine before the bus got here. It was stressful enough watching the stupid kid; I didn’t understand why my mother even trusted me with him. For all I cared I could’ve left the kid sitting in front of a gas station holding a “for sale” sign. God he was the most annoying 10-year-old ever- he was old enough to take care of himself. I could do that shit when I was 8, and now I’m 16. I guess I turned out alright.

I reached into the pocket of my jacket, pulling out my packet of cigarettes and my lighter. I picked one out, lit it, and took a longer than usual drag. As I blew out, I could hear the bus finally coming from down the road. Sighing, I threw the bud down on the ground, stomping on it.

“What a waste…” I muttered.

I picked up my backpack from off the ground and slung it over my shoulder, looking down the road. The bus was almost at my stop; it was picking up another kid that had lived a few houses down from my street.

Another minute later, the bus pulled to a halt at my stop. I crossed the road and got on, ignoring my surroundings. I climbed on, pushing past the kids that had already filled up the first four seats. I walked to the back, where I usually sat.

Someone was in my seat- a boy with curly brown hair and glasses who seemed to be reading some kind of book; I’d never seen him before. No wonder he was in my seat. I groaned; I wasn’t in the mood for starting anything today. I had already wasted a cigarette, the last thing I needed was to start a fight.

Without asking, I slammed myself down next to the kid. He looked over, raising his eyebrows. I ignored him, taking out my iPod from my backpack.

“A-Am I sitting in your s-seat?” The kid asked; his voice was quiet and shaky. He had an all-too-familiar accent.

I looked up from picking a song on my iPod. My eyes met with his; they were a soft brown and seemed to shine a bit under the light. Instantly, I felt an odd feeling hit me right in the chest; a warm feeling.

“N-No.” I responded, my voice shaking. “Well, yeah, b-but it’s cool.”

The other boy frowned. “I-I’ll move, i-if you’d l-like.” He responded.

I shook my head.

“O-Oh.” He responded. “A-Alright. U-Uh, I’m new here. I-It’s my first day. C-Could I ask for your name?”

“Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo.” I responded. “You can call me Guy-Man or Guy; whichever you prefer.”

The boy smiled. “M-My name is Thomas Bangalter.” He said.

“Are you from France?” I asked; I was curious about his accent.

He nodded. “Y-Yes, actually. We just moved here a few days ago; my parents have jobs that require them to move a lot, so we just picked this school. A-Are you from France, too?”

I nodded. “Yeah. We came here for a change; we just wanted a new start. I’ve lived in this town for several years now.”

Thomas smiled. “It’s great to know I’m not alone.” He said, laughing.

I smiled. There was something about this boy that I couldn’t get over. Something was telling me to stick with him. I’ll never meet another boy like him anywhere else.

“I-I like your shirt, b-by the way.” Thomas said, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked down. I didn’t notice it, but I had on an old AC/DC shirt. I looked back up. “So you like classic rock too?” I asked.

Thomas nodded and smiled. “M-My dad listens to it all the time, so I’ve grown up with it. I love it. My favorite band ever is Aerosmith.”

Yeah, this kid was a keeper.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guy-Man gets a pleasant surprise when he comes to find out that Thomas is in his Biology class. The two come to find out that they have more in common than they had initially thought when they're paired together for a group project.

I sat in Biology, doodling on the paper I was using to take notes. It was about halfway filled with shit about taxonomy; my mind had begun to trail off. I was drawing random stuff all over my paper, from hand drawings to full-body sketches. I had a knack for drawing, according to my art teacher. I guess I was halfway decent; many of the figures were a bit out of proportion.

Still ignoring my teacher’s continuous lecture, I looked up from my notebook. I squinted at the TV on the wall behind her, trying to read the time. It was almost 9:00. We got out at 10:00. Rolling my eyes, I silently went back to my doodles. Time seemed to go on forever in this class, I hated it. And the fact that it was an Honors class made it almost ten times worse. I hated all of the extra work she gave us; she made it so boring that I barely paid any attention. I was passing the class by the skin of my teeth; last time I checked, I had a D+.

Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the door. I looked up, curious to see who it was. Probably another teacher or something like usual. Considering where my seat was, I could see who was in the doorway perfectly. The teacher walked over to the door, huffing and puffing about her lesson being interrupted. She opened it up.

“B-Bonjour.” A quiet voice murmured. “I-I’m s-supposed to be in this class. It’s m-my first day.”

My eyebrows rose. No way. That accent and slight stutter were instantly recognizable.

“You must be Thomas!” The teacher said excitedly. “Come on in, please.”

The teacher took a step away from the door, allowing him to walk in. My eyes widen. It most definitely was Thomas; his brown, curly hair and smile were not matched by anyone else. In one arm he held a small back pack, in the other he held a binder.

I could feel the warm feeling again, right dead-center in my chest, almost like this morning. I felt a smile form on my lips as his eyes met with mine; the same warm, brown eyes and square-framed glasses from this morning. He smiled awkwardly, clutching the binder he had against his chest a bit harder than before.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?” The teacher asked.

Thomas blinked, seemingly breaking free from his trance. He nodded and took a deep breath.“M-My name is T-Thomas Bangalter. I-I’m a foreign exchange s-student from France. I hope I-I get t-to know you all.” Thomas said; his voice was a bit shaky. He was a bit scared. I wouldn’t blame him.

The teacher beamed with joy. She seemed more excited than anyone else in the class; hell, the class wasn’t even excited. She was the only one who actually seemed happy to get a new student. “Why don’t you go sit next to Guy-Man? He’s also from France. You two should be able to help each other better than we can.”

That’s right- the desk beside of me was empty. I could feel the warm feeling grow warmer as Thomas walked over. He set his binder down on his new desk, taking a seat. He set his bag down and looked up, causing out eyes to meet yet again. He smiled even brighter than before and let out a small laugh; he seemed like the type of kid you’d never see frown.

“It seems y-you’re m-my shadow t-today, huh?” He asked, still smiling.

I couldn’t help but smile and nod.

“I guess so. You’re a sophomore?” I asked.

Thomas shook his head. “I just turned 15 last month. I’m a f-freshman. I’m j-just in honors classes.”

I raised my eyebrows. He was just like the way he looked; he was extremely smart. He was one of the only freshmen in this class, although. It would be tough for him to make any friends; he seemed awkward enough already. Add that to the fact that I could tell he wasn’t that fluent in English and the poor kid would be a loner.

“Alright class, settle down.” The teacher said, interrupting our conversation.

Thomas and I looked back up. The class really wasn’t chattering as much as they were whispering. I noticed several girls looking over at Thomas and giggling. Some of the guys were staring at him as well; judging him. American kids were so much harsher than the ones back in France, it was almost scary.

“Thomas, we are going over taxonomy. Do you have any prior knowledge to the subject?” The teacher asked.

I eyed Thomas. He nodded his head.

“It’s the s-study of c-classification of organisms.” Thomas said, pushing his glasses up with his index finger.

“Good. So then you know the order of taxonomic ranks, as well?”

Thomas nodded again. “It goes D-Domain, K-Kingdom, Phylum, C-Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Sp-pecies.”

The teacher smiled. “Good. I’m glad you know that because I’m assigning a project on the taxonomic levels.”

The class groaned. I sat back in my desk, sighing. Regret had instantly struck me; I hadn’t written down a single word about the levels of taxonomy; only the basic stuff.

“You can work with a partner.” The teacher continued. “You must write a report stating each of the taxonomic levels, give two to four examples for each, and have it turned in by Monday of next week. Don’t forget to sight your sources. You may start working on it now.”

I sighed even louder, looking around the room. Everyone had a partner by now, even my two ass-for-brain goons, Joel and Sonny, had partnered with each other. The amount of weed and coke I’d sold them had to have added up to over a thousand bucks by now. Usually they went to me for group projects and then dumped all the work on me. It wasn’t fun.

There was a small tap on my shoulder causing me to lose my train of thought. I looked over to see Thomas looking right at me.

“C-Could you be my partner?” He asked; his voice seemed a bit shaky, almost as if he was nervous.

I smiled. The warm feeling had taken over again at this point.

“Of course.” I responded. Thomas’ expression brightened.

I bent down to my bag that I had thrown down on the floor and pulled out my Biology book. I sat it on the desk and then looked back over, chuckling. “This is gonna be our best friend.” I said, grinning awkwardly. “I didn’t really pay attention to the notes.”

Thomas smiled. We both stayed staring at each other, our eyes unable to focus on anything else but each other. For some odd reason, it almost felt as if he was the only one in the room with me. I couldn’t explain why but… He just made me feel happy. He made me feel... Whole.

Suddenly our teacher let out a loud yell, causing us both to snap from our trance. We both looked up as the teacher yelled at another student for not having their Biology book. Thomas and I looked back at each other and then started laughing.

“I can see why.” Thomas said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

 

 

In the small period of time we had left in the class, I learned many things about Thomas. He told me he was born and raised in Paris, just like I was. He lived in the more upper-class part of town; I lived on the other side where many of the middle-class families had settled. We went to opposite schools, as well. It was almost creepy to think that I could’ve known him all of my life; I guess God only chose now to put us together.

The kid loved to make music, just like I did. He could play the piano and the guitar, as well as a few other instruments. He was really into classic rock and 70’s disco music; it was the only thing his dad ever played. He also loved electronic music, and really wanted to learn how to make it. His dad had an old synthesizer back in France; he wasn’t allowed to touch it, though. Sadly, it had stopped working when he was 10 or 11- he never got the chance to use it.

He told me stories of how when he was younger, he used to go to the CD store every single day. Each day, he’d pick out a different CD or record or even cassette tape; he always made sure he had never heard of the band. He’d buy it and then take it home, give it a listen, and see whether he liked it or not. He’d been doing it since he was 8 or 9, and he honestly hadn’t found an album or band that he disliked. The kid was disconnected from the present; he seemed to have been raised in an entirely different time period- he was so cool.

Along with music, he found himself caught up in other interests. He loved playing Pokémon and Legend of Zelda- he really just loved video games in general- and really loved playing soccer and running track. He loved going outdoors and he especially loved going camping. But along with this, he had a love for his computer. He loved electronics in general; he had even made several small robots and had been building several more. He also enjoyed reading comic books. We even had the same favorite super hero, The Green Lantern.

We even had two other classes together- gym and Geometry- and even had the same lunch period. Our schedule had seemed to work out perfectly, which for some reason made me extremely happy.

The bell for the class to end had rung. We both looked shocked; we had lost track of time. Despite our long conversation, we had gotten a good amount of work done. As I gathered my things and threw them back into my bag, Thomas stood beside my desk, waiting. I threw my bag over my shoulder and followed him out.

We headed down the hallway towards the main wing. We both had Geometry next, same teacher and all. There was one big math hallway; our class was at the end of it. I figured I’d show him around the school; I knew the place like the back of my hand. I didn’t want him to be lost on his first day.

"So,” Thomas started; his voice loud over the chatter of the crowded hallway. “We have t-to meet up somewhere to get this done. M-Maybe your house?”

I paused a moment, thinking. I doubt it’d be a good working environment; my annoying ass little brother was insane, my mom was rarely home, and my room just smelled of smoke.

“Sure.” I answered. “We can meet up on Thursday, I’m free that day.”

“Alright.” Thomas said, beaming with joy. “Sounds like a plan.”

I smiled back as we walked into our Geometry class. A small part of me just wanted to jump with joy; I was so excited and I didn’t know why. As I slipped into my desk, the sudden thought hit me.

I knew exactly why.

 

 

I ran down the street, heading back towards my house. Thomas and I had spent the majority of the bus ride reading comic books. He could bring out the nerd side of me that I had tried so hard to suppress in almost an instant. It was a bit embarrassing, but hey, I didn’t really care what other kids had thought of me.

I continued running; my mind was in a different place. My thoughts were scattered everywhere, each one flew past my eyes like birds; they were all too fast to catch. I could barely make out which was which.

I turned the corner of the road and continued running. My throat had started to hurt due to my heavy breathing; the cold air wasn’t making it any easier. Mt throat felt as if each breath of air cut into it, causing it to sting violently. Sweat covered my forehead, my side was in pain; it really had taken a toll on me. I wouldn’t let my physical issues hold me back, however. I continued to press down the street at a fast pace, almost like the cops were on my tail again.

I hit the last turn a bit hard, tripping and falling into my neighbor’s yard. I got back up, groaning. I brushed off the grass that had stuck to my jacket. God, I was out of shape. I took a break and decided to walk the rest of the way. I looked like a complete mess; my hair had fallen down from the messy ponytail I had put it up in, my jacket hung off my shoulder awkwardly, grass stains covered my knees, and I knew I was shit-faced.

I climbed the steps that led to the front door. My brother was already home, so it was unlocked. I busted in, only to hear a small shriek come from the kitchen area. I rolled my eyes as I slammed the door shut behind me.

“Look out! A big, fat, black monster!” A familiar voice cried. “Kill it!”

I looked up to see my brother standing in the dining room, holding a sling shot. I lowered my eyebrows.

“Shut the fuck up, dillweed.” I hissed.

Paul let out a loud cry as he let whatever the hell was loaded in the slingshot fly. It smacked me in the side of the face, causing my cheek to sting. I dropped my bag down on the floor.

“Hey! you little cunt!” I yelled as I put my hand over the spot that hurt.

I could feel liquid under my fingers. My eyes widened as I brought down my fingers, revealing a fair amount of blood had covered them. He had shot me with a pebble.

“Asshole!” I yelled, running over to him. He let out another cry as I tackled him, prying the slingshot out of his hands in the midst of it all. I slammed the toy down on the ground, smashing it with my foot. Paul stood there and started to sob. I ignored him and went off to my room, slamming the door shut behind me.

I took out the pack of cigarettes and chrome lighter I had in my jacket pocket and then threw my jacket onto the floor, kicking it aside. I yanked the packet open and took one out lighting it up. I took a long drag and went over to my stereo, turning it on. I had my Slipknot CD blasting to drown out the little brat as I threw myself down on my bed. All I could think about was Thomas. I just wanted to be with him.

I knew that feeling like no other.

I was in love with him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guy-Man introduces Thomas to his two friends, Sonny and Joel.

I could barely remember the day before. It went by right in front of my eyes; all of it sped by. I can only remember sitting on the bus with Thomas, going to my locker with Thomas, working on the Biology project with Thomas… The kid was starting to take over my head. And I wasn’t stopping him from doing it, either.

It was Thursday; the day Thomas was coming over to work on the project. I stood at the bus stop, freezing cold. My leather jacket, motorcycle boots, and the black beanie I had pulled over the top of my head weren’t enough to shield me from the harsh cold; it was nearing the end February, so we still had a while to go before spring. I could see my breath, my cheeks were stinging, and my nose was running from the sheer cold. I hated it.

I constantly bounced on my feet, trying to generate some kind of warmth. It was nearly impossible; it was below freezing. A part of me wondered how Paul was doing; the kid had on three layers of clothes per my mother’s doing- today was her day off, so she woke us up and made breakfast. I just ate a bowl of cereal and a strip or two of bacon; Paul gorged like a monster that had just awoken from a long hibernation. I’d never seen such a small kid scarf down that much food in such little time- two plates of eggs, three pancakes, and a countless amount of bacon.

The other part of me wanted Thomas to wrap his arms around me. I just wanted him to hug me and make me feel loved. I just wanted to kiss him and hug him and do stupid romantic things with him. My cheeks burned just at the thought. It was either that or the cold chill of the air around me, at this point I couldn’t tell. God, it was almost stupid to be in love with a person; I hated love. I had never been shown it, so why should I show it to anyone else. Thomas, though, was an exception. He just made me all warm inside and my legs felt like jelly every time I saw him. And those eyes. Oh, those eyes. His eyes were the prettiest thing on this planet.

I felt like I needed to puke. I sat down on the road, my chest at my knees, trying to get a hold of myself. Small, jagged rocks dug into my pants, causing my skin to sting. I ignored it as I cracked open my Monster, taking a larger than normal sip. I wiped my mouth, setting the can down. I fumbled around in my pocket for my lighter and a cigarette. After a moment of aimlessly pulling at the box, I took out one, along with the lighter. I quickly pulled out my phone from the side pocket of my bag- my jeans only had back pockets in which I kept my money- and checked the time; I still had ten minutes before the bus came, so I figured why the hell not.

I put my phone back in my bag and then put the cigarette in my mouth, struggling to light it against the chilly wind. After a few moments of trial and error, I finally lit it and took a long hit. The toxic air was tight in my lungs, I almost wanted to cough. I had gotten the good kind this time- Marlboro Reds- I had spared no expense. I let the smoke out of my mouth, getting that usual tar taste. I wanted to put it out; it left a burning in the back of my throat. Somehow, they were my favorites, but weren’t preferred by my friends, so I always had more left.

Along with that tar taste, I got the warm feeling that I usually got from smoking. I felt my lips begin to curl as I took another drag, the warm feeling taking over me. I never got this buzz from anything else, not even weed. Weed was generally better for my health than these monstrosities, but I really didn’t care. I honestly felt high enough that I could kiss the sky.

Still, I only continued to think about Thomas. Oh God, I just wanted to sit around and do stupid romantic things with him. I couldn’t help but fantasize about lying around with him, listening to some of the old records he had, sharing cigarettes and even getting high. I’d never felt this way before about anyone in my life; it just felt right. I didn’t think I’d ever feel this way about anyone, especially not another guy. I knew there were consequences to coming out. My mother might not even accept me. Hell, she doesn’t even accept me as is now, if I came out as gay, she’d start laughing. She wouldn’t believe me.

_“Non.”_ I thought. _“I can’t think about things like that right now. Just be happy.”_

After a few more hits, I was done. I couldn’t really take the taste of Reds after so long. It had been about five minutes, which was usually the amount of one for me. I put out the stub with the asphalt of the road, rubbing it hard against it. I threw it into the grass beside the street, like usual. I grabbed my Monster that I had sat down beside me, chugging it down. I swallowed hard, wiping my mouth off. At least it washed down the taste.

I got back up, taking another sip. The bus should be here any minute now. I still felt the warm feeling in my chest; at this point I couldn’t tell if it was from the cigarettes or from thinking about Thomas so much. I could hear the bus picking up the kid that lived several houses down from my street as I put the drink back up to my lips. I picked up my bag as I downed another sip, walking closer to the edge of the street.

After another minute of waiting, the bus pulled to a halt in front of me. I crossed the street and climbed on, pushing past the kids that hung out of the seats in the front. I made my way to the back, and as usual, I was met with a bright, smiling face. I sat down next to Thomas, setting my bag down on the floor beside me. The bus continued driving, pushing me back against the seat a bit.

“Bonjour, Guy-Man.” Thomas said, still smiling, as always.

“Bonjour, Thomas.” I said back as I bent down to get my phone out of my bag.

“So what’d you d-do last night?” Thomas asked as I sat back up and put one of the headphones in, leaving the other out so I could hear what he was saying.

I paused for a moment to turn my iPod on. I put it on shuffle; the first song I got was Criminal by Michael Jackson. I’ll admit, I loved older R&B music along with the majority of rock and metal I had on my iPod.

“Nothing much really,” I responded. “Just worked on a few songs and messed around on Call of Duty a bit. You?”

“I finished s-setting up my computers. I still have a few boxes left to unp-pack, though.” He responded. “I’ve been working on writing a virus for my friend, Hugo, back in France. We like to see the effects o-o-of them on older comp-puters. It is p-pretty fun, actually.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“You must be really good with computers.” I responded. “You will have to show me one day.”

Thomas’ face brightened.

“Y-You think it’s cool?” He asked frantically. “M-Most people think it is f-for nerds.”

I couldn’t help but smile a bit. It was cute when he got excited; his eyes lightened up and he smiled wider than usual. It made me happy just to see him happy.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve always wanted to look into computers, honestly. It seems like too much, though. I’m a lot smarter than I look and act, trust me."

Thomas smiled. “You are very smart. You’re the smartest kid I’ve seen at this school so far. And trust me, I mean that.”

My heart skipped a beat. I desperately fought my hormones to keep my cheeks from turning red; but it was to no avail. They burned harshly; Thomas had noticed, too.

“G-Guy-Man, your cheeks are red.” He said.

I opened my mouth slightly, but no words came out; only a small sound. The loudness of the kids in the other seats around us drowned out the small sound coming from my throat; almost like a miniature scream.

“G-Guy-Man, are you okay?” Thomas asked; his voice was shaky.

I paused, trying to think of an excuse.

“Y-Yeah, I’m just c-cold.” I lied.

“O-Oh.” Thomas responded. “Y-You should’ve worn a scarf or s-something.”

“Yeah. That would’ve been smart.” I responded, putting my other headphone in.

Thomas pulled out a comic book from his bag and began to read it, ending our conversation. God damn it, I had made it awkward. I knew he didn’t like me back; it was a long shot. Thomas would never be into me romantically, he probably wasn’t even gay.

 _“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”_ I thought. _“I fucked up.” ___

I tossed my jacket into my locker, still wearing my beanie. No one had yelled at me to take it off yet, so it would be fine. I looked around for any suspicious teachers; none were looking, so I stuffed my cigarettes into my bag, along with my iPod and house keys. I got up from the floor- my locker was on the bottom- and threw my bag over my shoulder. I bent down to pick up my Monster and then slammed my locker shut. I walked down the hallway and headed towards Biology. I brushed some dirt that had gotten on my white Beach Boys shirt off, taking another sip of my Monster.

“Guy-Man!” Someone called.

I looked up; the Monster was still pressed to my lips. Across the hallway stood Joel and Sonny. They gestured for me to come over. Rolling my eyes, I continued to drink the energy drink as I walked.

“Sup man!” Joel said, putting his hand out.

I burped as I finished the last part of the drink. I gave Joel a high five.

“Nothin’ much,” I responded. “How are you two doin’ on the project?”

The two looked at each other and laughed. I figured they hadn’t done anything. Joel was pretty stupid- a C-D honor roll student. He wasn’t as dumb as a rock, though, he had street smarts. He was high almost ninety-five percent of the time, or at least he acted like it. He was 17; he had failed his freshman year. He had a bit of stubble growing on his chin already and somehow had a driver’s license. He barely had any money to afford gas; he couldn’t find a job and his parents were broke as fuck. Sonny, on the other hand, was relatively smart. He had made A’s, B’s, and a few C’s here and there. He was lazy as hell though. He was a long-time heroin addict and cutter, which was the only thing I hated about him. The kid had jet-black hair and snake bites and was the same age as I was. He was adopted when he was a baby, apparently. He hated himself most of the time, but he was really cool.

I had known the both of them since the first day of middle school here in America. Those two would take a bullet for me. They’d never turn on me, no matter what. They were both into the same stuff as I was. They were more into metal than I was, and also liked electronic music, mainly dubstep; I stuck to classic rock, mainly.

“Come on,” Sonny interrupted, still laughing. “We need to get to class.”

The three of us began walking off towards class. We talked about our projects mainly; Sonny and Joel had planned to put theirs off until Sunday night, like usual. Joel asked if I had any cigarettes on me, I told him of course. He begged for one until he found out they were Marlboro Reds; he hated them. The two of us had a bad habit of sharing our cigarettes, lit or not.

About halfway down the hallway, our conversation was interrupted.

“Guy-Man, wait up!” Someone yelled. I looked back to see Thomas running up to us. He had is bag in one hand, his binder in the other, just like usual. I smiled as we stopped to let him catch up.

“S-Sorry I was late; I had to t-talk to my Spanish teacher.” Thomas said, trying to catch his breath.

“It’s fine.” I responded.

Suddenly, I felt a cold sensation in my shoulder. I eyed Joel, who was glaring back at me. I raised my eyebrows.

“O-Oh yeah,” I started, trying to ignore Joel. “Thomas, this is Sonny and Joel. They’re my best friends.”

Thomas turned towards them. Sonny smiled and shook his hand, introducing himself. Joel, oddly, was hesitant at first. He then shook his hand, a bit too firmly. I didn’t understand why he was so agitated; he was happy just a moment ago.

“Come on, we need to get to class before the bell rings.” I said.

The three looked over and nodded. Without another word we all started heading towards class. I could feel the glare Joel was giving me going right through my back; it hit me right at my core. I didn’t know why he was giving me the cold shoulder right now. It was weird.

The four of us entered the class. The teacher yelled at me to throw my empty can away, like every day. I did, as usual. I headed towards my seat, but before I could move away, a hand gripped my shoulder firmly. I looked back to see Joel, still glaring.

“What’s your problem?” I asked; my voice hostile as I yanked my shoulder away.

“You don’t need to be hanging out with nerds like him.” Joel hissed. “He’ll make us look bad.”

My eyes widened. I looked over at Thomas, who had sat down in his seat. Thomas looked over to where I was, smiling and waving. I waved back, only to get a distasteful grunt from Joel. I looked back, glaring.

“Give him a chance.” I said. "And as far as I'm concerned, we don't have a "look"."

“Fine. But if he’s still a nerd, we’re cutting you off. Get him to smoke or something.” Joel said back, walking off.

I kept my unsatisfied expression, watching as he headed towards his seat. Okay, maybe those two _would _turn on me.__


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Guy-Man head home to finish their project.

I stayed silent as Thomas and I walked down the road to my house. It was still as cold as this morning; I had my leather jacket zipped up and beanie pulled down over my ears. Thomas had on a fancy teal sports jacket that had white stripes on the arms; despite how thin it was he said it kept him warm. I didn’t argue; I secretly wanted to ask to try it on. We had just gotten off the bus a few minutes ago; I had stayed silent during the entire ride home. I was too nervous to talk; I was so happy that Thomas was coming over. I didn’t know what to say; my mouth and throat were too dry to form words. God, it was almost embarrassing.

Thomas, on the other hand, had been continuously rambling about several different subjects; he had a tendency to go on about random things. I found it adorable how much he loved to talk about things he was interested in; from sports to computers to video games. God, I didn’t want him to stop talking. His voice was music to my ears. His tone was lighter and sweeter compared to most boys his age and he had a stutter- which I thought was just adorable. Everything about him was adorable to me. From the way his eyes lit up when he spoke to the way he stumbled over his words when talking for long periods of time; I loved every part of him.

I stared down at the asphalt road, counting the small rocks that covered it as I walked. My thoughts were almost loud enough to drown out Thomas’ ramblings; at this point I couldn’t tell one apart from the other. They flew around in my head at a high speed to the point where they seemed to almost blur. I felt like I was going to fall out at any second. Thomas had always gotten me like that. Every time I was around him I felt like I wanted to throw up; I just wanted to kiss him and hug him and call him mine… Oh God, I couldn’t stand it much longer.

“Guy-Man?” Someone asked, scattering my thoughts.

I looked up from the road to see Thomas staring at me.

“D-Did you hear what I said?” He asked.

I shook my head, still unable to talk. I knew for a fact that my cheeks were red and I was probably shit-faced, but at this point I didn’t care.

“I won’t be riding the bus home for a few months starting next week.” He said, frowning.

My heart sank. “W-Why?” I managed to say, breaking my long silence.

“Track tryouts are s-starting next week.” He replied. “I really want to be on the team. I’ll still be on the bus in the mornings. But don’t worry, once I get home, I’ll jog right over to see you.”

A stupid smile formed on my lips. “Good.” I responded. “It’d be boring without you.”

Thomas smiled back. I swear the kid knew I liked him; but he was the type of person who didn’t seem to get the big picture right away. He needed someone to tell him the obvious.

We turned onto the road leading towards my house; Thomas continued to talk about track. He was good at both sprinting and distance, but they normally had him doing sprints and hurdles. Back in France, he was one of the fastest in his school district. Honestly, I was a bit jealous; I had never been good at sports. I was decent at football, or soccer, as a child, but then I gained a bit of weight. I had never been the skinniest child, I always had a bit of chubbiness, but once I hit 10, it all went downhill. My mother referred to it as “puppy fat”, but I knew she was just saying I was overweight.

“Oh, by the way, I have to warn you about my piece of shit little brother.” I told him.

Thomas cocked his head, a bit confused. “Y-You have a brother?”

“Yeah, he’s ten. He’s super annoying, too. His name is Paul.” I responded.

Thomas chuckled. “Aren’t they all?”

I couldn’t help but laugh like a love-struck teenage girl. I sounded so stupid; I laughed at all his jokes and complimented everything he did. I was a hopeless romantic.

The two of us approached the steps of my house. As we climbed them onto the front porch, I gave Thomas one last warning about Paul. I slowly opened the door, cracking it open. I peeked through the crack, making sure the coast was clear. I eyed the living room; no one seemed to be in it. My mother was probably asleep in her room, like usual. A nice aroma came from the kitchen; my mom must’ve already had dinner in the oven.

“The coast is clear.” I said to Thomas, looking back.

Thomas nodded.

I slowly opened the door, just in case I missed him. I knew the little shit was in here somewhere; he always knew where to hide. I stepped inside, gesturing for Thomas to follow. We both took a few steps from the door and into the room. I set my bag down and then turned back around to close the door.

Suddenly, a loud cry came from somewhere behind me.

“Guy-Man, look out!” Thomas exclaimed as I swung around.

My eyes widened as Paul stood at the top of the stairs with one of his many Nerf guns. Thomas ducked right in time, leaving me wide open. As fast as it began, I was mowed with Nerf darts and forced down to the ground.

I heard Paul let out a wild cackle. I used my hands to guard my face; Thomas was on the floor with his hands over his head.

“Paul I _swear _to God!” I yelled, still blocking the bullets.__

“Watch out for the scary monsters!” Paul yelled. “I need backup!”

“I’ve got your back!” Someone else yelled over the loud commotion.

I looked up to see my mother standing next to Paul, another Nerf gun in her hand.

_“Maman?!” _I exclaimed.__

Thomas popped his head up and looked over at me; he had a terrified expression on his face. What a great first impression.

“Alright, alright.” My mother told Paul. “We’ve done our job. He’s down.”

Paul put his gun down, pouting. I got up and helped Thomas up, assuring him that it was over. My mother came down the stairs and introduced herself.

“I forgot we had guests coming over,” She started. “My apologies for attacking you.”

Thomas laughed. “It’s fine.” I knew he lied; I could tell he was shaken up. “My name is Thomas. I’m helping Guy-Man with a project for Biology.”

“Oh, so you’re the boy Guy-Man has been talking about.” My mother responded. “He’s told me a lot about you.”

Thomas’ face flushed. Damn it.

“R-Really?” Thomas stuttered.

My mother nodded. Oh God, this was so embarrassing. I needed to get him out of here and just go to my room already.

“Okay, okay.” I interrupted. “Let’s go. You’ve met him, he’s cool, come on. We need to finish our project.”

I grabbed my bag and then grabbed Thomas’ wrist. I began pulling him towards the stairs, much to my mother’s dismay. She wanted to talk with him more, but I wasn’t having it. I didn’t want to be more embarrassed than I already was. Knowing her, she’d break out baby pictures. Or worse, start telling stories from when I was a kid.

I pulled Thomas up the stairs and down the hallway, towards my room. I could feel my cheeks burning. I was just so flustered; I knew my mother could tell, too. I had been telling her a lot about him; I’m sure she knew I liked him. Ugh, I just wanted to explode.

I opened the door to my room and that’s when the smell hit. The smell of cigarettes and weed and God knows what else. It was normal to me; I stepped inside and tossed my bag down in its usual spot if I actually brought it up to do homework. I looked back, gesturing for Thomas to come in. Thomas, though, took a moment to come in. He paused at the door, a disgusted expression on his face.

“It… Smells terrible in here.” He muttered.

At first, I didn’t understand why he was so confused. But once he stepped in and closed the door, I realized. He didn’t know about my smoking habit, I hadn’t told him; I rarely went outside or even opened the window when I smoked. Obviously he wasn’t used to it.

“Why does it smell like cigarettes in here?” Thomas asked as he went over to my bed. He set his bag down and took out his laptop that he had brought with him.

“Uh…” I said, pausing to come up with a lie. I didn’t want him to think any less of me; he’d probably hate me if he found out the truth. “M-My mom smokes.”

Thomas narrowed his eyebrows. “In here?” He had a suspicious tone.

I sat down on my bed.

“This used to be her old mattress. The smell’s kind of stuck in it now.”

Thomas rolled his eyes.

“Whatever, man. Sorry for acting so strange. I’m not used to the smell; neither of my parents smoke.”

He set his laptop down on my desk. I told him the wifi password- Paul’s birthday- and he got started. All we really needed to do was type it up and make a few edits. We were mostly finished with it; for once I actually did a good amount of work on a group project. Thomas began typing as I sat on my bed. He said I didn’t need to do anything; he could finish it up. I was completely fine with that; I had done my work and I was ready to finish the damn thing. I knew he could tell I was tired of it.

As he typed away, we began to talk. Now that I had thought about it, I hadn’t really told him anything about my life. Just the basic stuff, things like where I’d grown up and my interests. For once, someone was actually interested in me. I felt happy talking to him; I’d never felt that way about anyone else before.

He asked me about the bands I was into. We had a lot of the same interests in music; we both loved the Beach Boys to death. We even had the same favorite song, Darlin’. Thomas was a lot cooler than I thought; he loved a lot of older rock and newer rock, too. He even liked metal, which was a complete shocker to me. He even loved alternatize bands like The Gorillaz. Everything about him was perfect to me; I saw no reason to dislike him.

Everything was great until he dropped a bombshell.

“Oh, I meant to ask,” Thomas started as he continued to type. “Where’s your dad?”

My eyes widened and I froze. I knew he would’ve asked eventually. I hated even thinking about that bastard… God damn I just wanted to kill the man. He was the reason I was so messed up. He was the reason I wanted to die. He was the first person to ever teach me hatred. God, even the mention of the word “dad” got me messed up. I fucking hated him.

I looked down at the floor, unable to answer.

“Guy-Man-” “I don’t have a dad.” I said, interrupting Thomas.

Thomas paused his typing and looked over. “O-Oh, I’m… I’m sorry.”

“The bastard left when I was only eight years old.” I said, still staring at the ground. “He was abusive to me and my mother. He loved Paul, though. Paul was a perfect little angel to him. He treated me like a bastard child; like I wasn’t his own. Every fucking day was the same. He’d beat me for no fucking reason and then yell at my mom. Then he’d leave and go to a bar, get his fat ass drunk, and then come back home and continue his beatings. Then one day, he just left.”

Thomas was silent.

“He was the first person to teach me what hate truly meant.” I continued. I could feel tears welling up in the corners on my eyes. “He’s the reason I’m so fucked up in the head; the reason I grew to hate myself. He’s the reason I started cutting when I was thirteen. I still have scars on my back from where he beat me with empty bottles. I have anger issues because of him. I had to suppress my anger as much as I could back then, but now that he’s gone, I unleash it on anything. He’s the reason we left France. He’s the reason… He’s the reason I smoke.”

I looked up from the floor. Thomas was staring back at me with a look of disbelief. His brown eyes were full of concern. I could feel tears rolling down the sides of my face; I hadn’t cried in front of anyone before. I felt embarrassed.

“I’m sorry…” I said, wiping the tears off my cheeks. “Smoking is how I relive my stress… I don’t cut anymore, either. I-I just didn’t know what to do-”

Suddenly, I was cut off. I was met with a sudden embrace, causing me to go silent. Thomas wrapped his arms around me tightly, giving me a good squeeze. I felt my face turn red as he did so; I wrapped my arms around him, as well.

“Don’t be sorry.” He said, ending the silence. “Never be sorry about something like that. Don’t be sorry about cutting or smoking. Don’t be sorry for crying. Just don’t be sorry.”

I felt myself tense up. I looked over at the side of his head, almost in disbelief. I had never heard him speak with such a stern tone. It wasn’t exactly stern, though, it was more of a caring tone. He was holding back tears.

“T-Thomas…” I said; my voice was soft and lower than usual.

Thomas pulled away, ending our hug. Our eyes met; his face was bright red. I could feel myself shaking.

“T-Thank you.” I stuttered. “I… I r-really needed t-that.”

Thomas didn’t respond. I didn’t know if he found it awkward or not. All I knew is that my heart was racing; I was so nervous. I could feel sweat starting to form on my forehead. My arms and legs felt like jelly. I didn’t know what to say.

Suddenly, Thomas put his hands on my cheeks, cupping my face. My cheeks burned even brighter than before. I put my hands up to meet his, gripping them tightly. I couldn’t hide my feelings any longer.

I took a deep breath.

“Thomas… I… I love you.” I said.

A small smile formed on Thomas’ lips.

“I… I love you too, Guy-Man.”

I stared right into Thomas’ brown eyes; they had been dimmed by the light of the room before, but seemed to be bright and full of life now. I felt something new, something different. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing; it almost seemed like a dream.

In the heat of the moment, I began to lean into him. I let my eyelids become heavy and my lips parted. Before I knew it, I felt the warmness of his lips against my own. At first he seemed to be scared, he was tense and nervous, but after a few seconds, he gave in. I let myself give in as our lips embraced in a long, loving kiss. I could feel my chest tighten and my muscles relax; the sensation was almost as good as smoking. It felt as if our bodies had melted into one another- it felt right. It felt like we were supposed to be together, like God put us together for a reason. I had never felt this way with anyone else. It felt natural.

After what seemed like forever, Thomas pulled away. He looked back down at me. We both started to laugh. He gave me another hug; I pushed my face into his neck. I could smell the cologne he was wearing; his skin was warm and soft. I felt like I was the only person in the world when I was in his arms. It was a new feeling, but it felt normal. It didn’t feel weird at all; it just felt right.

“Thomas… I want you to be mine.” I whispered.

“Don’t worry.” Thomas responded. “I always will be.”

“Is this wrong?” I asked.

“If it’s wrong… Then why does it feel so right?” Thomas responded.

I pulled out of the hug, our eyes meeting.

“Because you’re the only one who’s right for me.” I responded.

Without another word, we kissed again. It wasn’t as good at the first one, but it was up there.

I never expected my first kiss to be as good as it was. And I’ll never forget it, either.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an embarrassing day in gym class, Guy-Man decides he needs to impress Thomas by actually getting up and playing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhh man I am so sorry for not posting this sooner! I've been really busy lately and I haven't had the time. But, I've got the next chapter in the works already, so you won't have to wait for it for too long.

It had been a week since the kiss. Thomas and I had played it off as if it were just a normal meet up to do homework to all of our friends; no one had seemed to suspect a thing. Neither of us ever dared mentioning anything related to it at school. Sure, we continued to see each other after school, as well. We worked out a schedule when he spent the night last weekend. He’d get home from track practice around 5:30 and then jog straight to my house; he had meets on Thursday so he couldn’t come over, but there was no practice on Friday, so he’d end up walking home with me. It all worked out perfectly.

We had spent the majority- maybe around 80% of the time- of the past week helping each other with biology and geometry homework. Thomas was a lot better with it than I was, so I always ended up needing a bit of extra help. Thomas was happy to oblige; he even said that he loved helping me out. Other than that, we watched videogame commentaries on YouTube and even played Pokémon: Battle Revolution on my brother’s Wii. I didn’t understand a lot of the mechanics, but somehow managed to win. I think Thomas was just letting me win. But hell, I really enjoyed rubbing it in his face. He thought it was cute when I did.

Other than the homework and goofing off, we spent a bit of time kissing. It started out as quick, soft little pecks on the lips, but after a few days, it had developed into slow, passionate kisses. At one point, it became a full-on make-out. Thomas was really good at kissing, to be honest. The thought of it just gave me butterflies in my stomach.

Now, I sat on the bleachers in gym, alongside Sonny and Joel. The three of us had never really done anything; we all used the class as a free period to do whatever the hell we wanted. The gym coaches didn’t really care about our phones, so usually we just fucked around with them. No big deal, really. I usually spent my time on YouTube; Joel only sat there and listened to music, while Sonny was on Instagram. I didn’t care for social media, really. I have a YouTube and a Facebook and that’s it. Sonny, on the other hand, was really big on Instagram and Tumblr- both his usernames being “emo-of-the-yearxx”. I didn’t have a clue about what Joel was doing; I just heard Slayer blasting from his headphones as he sat in silence, staring off into space. It was extremely odd; usually he was so into our conversations.

Now, today was a Friday. And for any dedicated kids who took it way too seriously, that meant dodgeball day. For nearly the entire class period, balls flew left and right, slamming into the wall or floor or even basketball goal. The games were always way too intense; I mean come on, it’s just gym class, not the fucking world tournament. God, the way these kids acted during each game made me crack up. Hell, even Thomas would get a bit into it at times. I had to admit it was really cute.

I still sat there, watching a music video on my phone. I was about halfway through when someone tapped on my arm. I looked over and pulled out my headphones; Sonny smiled at me and then showed me a picture of a really hot chick that was on his Instagram.

“Who’s that?” I asked.

“This girl that just followed me; she asked for my Snapchat. She’s really hot, isn’t she?” He beamed.

I nodded. “Hell yeah, man. You gonna ask for tit pics?”

“Of course.” Sonny laughed.

I laughed, too; a sinking feeling had taken over me, settling in my chest. I lied about her being hot. I lied about every girl Sonny showed me; I was never interested. God damn it, I was so scared of coming out. Sonny would probably make fun of me, or even worse, just flat out leave me… I mean, he’s been my best friend since the day we met, but…

“Guy-Man!” Someone called, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked to where the voice came from, the bottom of the bleachers. Thomas stood there, drenched in sweat, panting. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Could you get me my water bottle?” He asked, a bit out of breath.

I nodded; I had been keeping it by my side since gym had begun. I pulled my headphones out and grabbed it, climbing down to the bottom of the bleachers. I jumped down off the bottom row, landing beside Thomas.

“Here you go.” I said, handing the water bottle to him. He hastily pulled it away and cracked it open, chugging it down almost immediately. I couldn’t help but smile a bit as he pulled the bottle away from his lips, wiping his mouth off with his arm.

“T-Thanks.” He responded, obviously still tired.

“It was nothing.” I added. “You sure seem like you’re having fun, anyways.”

Thomas nodded. “Y-Yeah. I love playing d-dodgeball.” He laughed.

I cracked another smile. His laugh was just so perfect. God, everything about him was perfect. I just loved him so much; it was almost stupid.

Suddenly, the coach blew his whistle, interrupting our conversation. Thomas scratched his head and looked over towards the court; all of his buddies had grouped together and were gesturing for him to come over and join them.

“Give me a second!” He yelled. One of them nodded and then ducked back into the huddle.

Thomas looked back to me.

“I’ve, uh, gotta go.” He said.

I nodded.

“Good luck.”

Thomas smiled as his cheeks turned red. He giggled a bit and then handed his water bottle back to me. It was a bit awkward; neither of us said a thing as we stood there.

“Guy-Man, come here!” Someone yelled. I jerked my head towards the direction of the voice; my eyes immediately met with Sonny’s. He motioned for me to get back up there. I nodded towards Thomas and then turned away. I climbed back up to the top, mentally slapping myself for being so awkward. God damn, I was just one big mess around him; I couldn’t help it. I silently scolded myself as I slammed back down where I was sitting, next to Sonny.

“You okay man?” Sonny asked.

I blinked and looked over.

“Y-Yeah. I’m fine. What did you need?”

Sonny seemingly ignored my answer and showed me his phone. “We should totally go see A$AP Rocky this weekend, man. He’s playing in town. Tickets are on sale.”

I paused for a second. Oh man, that sounded really cool. Tickets were only 20 bucks a piece, too… But I really wanted to spend time with Thomas. If I said I couldn’t go, he’d know something was up. God damn, I needed an excuse…

“Uh…” I started. “I’ve gotta watch Paul. My mom’s working late.” That should work.

“Shit man, that hasn’t stopped you before.” Sonny responded. “Who cares? I’m sure your mom will be okay with it.”

_Fuck._

“Well uh-”

“Guy-Man!” Someone called, interrupting us at the perfect moment.

I jerked my head away from Sonny. I looked down to the gym floor; my eyes met with Thomas’. My jaw dropped.

He was shirtless.

And he was built.

I could feel my cheeks burn. A new sensation ran through my body; it was different than the normal one I got when I was around him. I couldn’t explain it, really… Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I knew what this feeling was. It had washed over me, settling mainly in my stomach. I was getting turned on. The blood had rushed… Down there. Oh no.

“Guy-Man, come here! Get my water bottle!” Thomas called.

I nodded and grabbed his water bottle, clumsily getting up and making my way down the rows of seats, completely ignoring Sonny’s protests to stay. I hopped down the last step and handed the bottle to Thomas, hoping he couldn’t see the erection that was probably sticking out at this point. Checking would be a dead giveaway. Shit, I didn’t know what to do.

“Thanks.” Thomas said, taking a sip. He must’ve not noticed.

When he finished, he let out a loud sigh and wiped the sweat off his forehead using his shirt that he was clutching in his hand. Oh man, my cheeks were probably still bright red. It felt like I had to scream. I was so embarrassed. Fuck…

Suddenly, Thomas poured some of the water from his bottle onto his head. He let out a soft noise of relief, shaking his head to get most of it off.

And that did it for me. I put my hand over my mouth, trying to conceal the small whimper I let out. I glued my eyes shut. My cheeks burned even hotter; the feeling of arousal had fully taken over at this point. Oh my God, I never thought I’d get turned on by something like this. I never knew Thomas was this hot. Fuck I just couldn’t stop feeling this way; it was driving me crazy.

I wanted to fuck him. We had only been dating for a week and I wanted to fuck him. I could just imagine him in bed… Sucking his dick as he moaned my name, and then turning him over and fucking his ass. Oh man it was probably really tight. Oh man, oh man, oh man…

“G-Guy-Man?”

I snapped out of my trance. I looked up, Thomas was staring at me.

“You okay?” He asked.

I nodded. “Oh, uh, yeah. I-I was trying not to cough. My throat’s been killing me lately.”

“Oh, w-well could you hold onto my shirt?” He asked. I nodded and he handed it and the water bottle to me. Without another word, I awkwardly climbed back up to the top of the bleachers and sat down. I set them down and sighed.

“You okay, man? You’ve been acting really weird lately- especially when Thomas is around.” Sonny asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, man. Like I said, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Sonny stared at me, then over at Thomas, who was already back with his team, and then back at me. He raised his eyebrows. “Do you like him or something?”

My heart started pounding. Fuck.

“No, of course not!” I snapped.

“Jeez, sorry for asking…” Sonny responded, sinking back against the wall. “There’s nothing wrong with that, anyways…”

I let out a loud groan and leaned back, as well. I watched Thomas run across the court, throwing the red rubber ball with all the force he could. It slammed into a kid’s leg on the other team. Thomas ran back, getting a slap on the shoulder by one of his teammates. Man, I wish I was as athletic as he was. He was the perfect example of an athlete; tall, muscular, skinny. Compared to him, I was a wasteland. I did all kinds of shit to harm myself. I’m sure Thomas had never even seen a pack of cigars in his entire life. God, I just wished I could be like him…

And suddenly, a stupid idea formed in my head.

I looked over to Sonny excitedly. I tapped his arm and he looked up from his phone, raising an eyebrow.

“Let’s go play.” I said.

“Huh?” He responded.

“Let’s go play dodgeball. We’ll join the next game.”

Sonny shrugged. “You can, man. I’m not in the mood.”

I rolled my eyes and then stood up, taking my jacket off. I tossed it down and then tied my hair back using the hair tie I always wore on my wrist. I didn’t change into my gym clothes, so I was still wearing my jeans. I didn’t really care at this point; I really just wanted to impress Thomas. I bounded down the bleachers and then jumped to the floor, running over to Thomas’ team. The last game had just ended.

I ran over to where Thomas was. He was with two of his other friends- both freshmen- discussing the next match. He looked up, smiling.

“Guy-Man!” He called eagerly as I got over. “What’s up?”

“C-Can I play with you guys?” I asked.

Thomas raised his eyebrows. “Of course! I d-didn’t think you were really athletic, though-”

“I still want to play.” I said sternly.

Thomas looked at his friends, who both nodded. He looked back at me.

“Alright. Just follow my lead.”

 

I stood behind Thomas, eagerly waiting for instruction. I looked back over to the bleachers where Sonny and Joel were sitting; both of them were watching me, smiling. Sonny gave me a thumb’s up. I looked back at the other team; the coach had just finished setting down the balls at the half-court line. I could feel my heart racing at this point. I was nervous.

Suddenly, the whistle sounded. I came back to as Thomas took off running. I stayed in my place as he grabbed a ball and then came back.

“Alright, just catch whatever’s coming at you. Y-You can throw the ball to me if you need help. Other than that, try to st-stick by my side. I’ll protect you. Got it?”

I nodded. “Got it.”

The game began as soon as I responded. Balls came flying left and right, some whizzing right past my arms. I was barely able to get up to speed with what was happening; it all seemed as if it was going at break-neck-speed to me. All I could do was follow Thomas around like a lost puppy; he was treating me like I had no idea what I was doing.

Suddenly, one of the balls flew right past me. I looked up, noticing another kid about to throw one at me. Maybe if I could catch this one, Thomas would have some confidence in me. I barely had time to react as the kid let the ball fly; it was heading right towards me. I braced myself for it, putting my arms out to catch it. I doubted this would help at all.

Contrary to what I expected to happen, I caught it. The coach whistled, calling the kid out. I looked back at Thomas, who was smiling.

“I guess I’m not that bad!” I shouted.

Thomas shook his head. Suddenly, his face grew concerned.

“Look out!” He yelled, pointing.

“Huh?” I muttered as I turned my head back around.

I didn’t have time to make a move, right as the ball smashed into my face. I fell down as stars seemingly crashed behind my eyelids. And then, everything went black.


End file.
